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Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport (formerly Sahar Airport) is South Asia's bussiest Airport . It was named after the great emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj . Annualy millions of passengers are handled by this Airport . Mumbai is an important entry-point of India . Hence it has emerged as an important airport of India . A lot of modernization work is going on in the airport . In the future , this airport will be capable of handling even more passengers .
Location[]
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) , is one of the few airports in the world , which are located within the municipal limits of the city . This Airport is situated almost in the heart of the city .i.e. at the centre of the city .The Airport is spread across Vile Parle , Kalina , Vakola , Santacruz , Kurla , Andheri [E] . The Domestic Airport is close to the Western Express Highway , while the International Terminal is Far Eastwards .
Features[]
Ever since the revamp of the airport , a lot of facilities have rolled out . There are 85 parking stands for planes in the existing airport . There are about 25 boarding bridges . There are more than 130 check in counters and 3,600 car parking slots . The numbers will increase in the future , when the work on upgradation is completed .
New taxi ways have been developed to reduce the runway occupancy time by aircraft after landing. The airport has five rapid exit taxiways. By 2013, 11 rapid exit taxiways will be constructed.MIAL is undertaking the installation of a centralised data system which will provide information about domestic as well as international flights to all display devices at both terminals instead of just one or the other as at present. There are plans to extend the scope of the system to the air traffic control (ATC) and apron control areas, the airport website and even to leading hotel chains. A centralised call centre to provide flight details is also envisaged.
A Wi-Fi service is available free of charge throughout the airport.
Modernization[]
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The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is going under tremendous modernization . The plan is as follows :-
- Sahar Elevated Road
- New A.T.C Tower
- New International Terminal
- A parallel Runway
Sahar Elevated Road[]
Sahar road is a road that connects the Western Express Highway to the International airport . However , it is very incovinient to use this road , as it gets crowded during the peak hours . Therefore , a new flyover is being built on the same road , which is refferred as Sahar Elevated Road .
New A.T.C Tower[]
India's second-tallest Air Traffic Control Tower with a height of 83.8 metres is being built in a section of the parking area opposite terminal 1B. The triangular three dimensional structure with soft vertices has won the Hong Kong Building Information Modeling (BIM) Award for the year 2009. From the new tower, air traffic controllers will be able to see five miles beyond beyond the thresholds of both runways. The cost of the fully equipped tower is estimated at Rs 400 crore.
The existing ATC tower began functioning in 1999 and was built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an overall project cost of about Rs 280 crores. The old tower stands 60 metres tall, uncomfortably close to the secondary runway. Hence, many such as Singapore International Airlines, Saudi Airways, Qantas and Continental do not use this runway.The old tower also obstructs the path of a parallel taxiway under construction for the secondary runway. The old tower will be demolished after all operations are shifted to the new tower and the taxiway will be completed.
New International Airport[]
The T2 Terminal replaced the old terminal in 2014 . This terminal has more passenger handling capacity . It is be an architectural marvel .